September 17, 2006
Sermon #643

In Chain of Command

1 Corinthians 11:1 - 16 (NKJV) ¹Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. ²Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. ³But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. ⁴Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. ⁵But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. ⁶For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. ⁷For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man is not from woman, but woman from man. ⁹Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. ¹⁰For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. ¹²For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God. ¹³Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? ¹⁵But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given ^£to her for a covering. ¹⁶But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

Introduction:

I want it understood that I am ministering through a study of a book of the Bible – so I have not picked this subject because of any personal interest. I also want it understood that I am trying to interpret and explain the words of the Apostle Paul and I try as much as possible to be true to the text and not insert my philosophy into the message. This is one of those subjects that gets the minister into trouble – well actually any thing I say will offend someone!

I. The head of Christ is God!

A. This is not inferior – before, during or after the incarnation

John 10:25 - 30 (NKJV) ²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. ²⁶But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, ^£as I said to you. ²⁷My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰I and My Father are one.â€�

John 14:8 - 11 (NKJV) ⁸Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.â€� ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. ¹¹Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

Jesus is Submitted to the Father

John 4:34 (NKJV) ³⁴Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

John 5:30 (NKJV) ³⁰I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

John 6:38 - 40 (NKJV) ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.â€�

Christ is the head of every man

1 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV) ³But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

A. Christ is the head of every Christian Man

Ephesians 1:15 - 23 (NKJV) ¹⁵Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸the eyes of your ^£understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. ²²And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 4:11 - 16 (NKJV) ¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Colossians 1:15 - 18 (NKJV) ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

B. Christ is the head of all non Christian men

Matthew 28:18 - 20 (NKJV) ¹⁸And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Go ^£therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.â€� ^£Amen.

Philippians 2:5 - 11 (NKJV) ⁵Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Man is the head of woman

ILL: Well I almost made it – now the trouble! The principle of subordination and authority applies to all men and all women not to just husband and wives.

A. Man is the image and glory of God

1 Corinthians 11:7 - 10 (NKJV) ⁷For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man is not from woman, but woman from man. ⁹Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. ¹⁰For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

Genesis 1:26 - 28 (NKJV) ²⁶Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over ^£all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.â€� ²⁷So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.â€�

ILL: Where was woman? She was inside, part of the man!

B. Woman is the image and glory of man

Genesis 2:21 - 23 (NKJV) ²¹And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²²Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. ²³And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.â€�

ILL: Someone has said that God man woman second to correct the mess he had made in making man! It is impossible to take what Paul wrote as being supportive of contemporary feminism. But Paul makes no distinction between man and women as to their personal worth, intellect or spiritually. Paul is not saying that God made a distinction because of superiority but for order.

C. Family order

Ephesians 5:22 - 33 (NKJV) ²²Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. ³⁰For we are members of His body,^£ of His flesh and of His bones. ³¹â€œFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.â€�^{£ 32}This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

ILL: God judged when the order was changed

Isaiah 3:11 - 13 (NKJV) ¹¹ Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him. ¹² As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.â€� ¹³ The Lord stands up to plead, And stands to judge the people.

Symbol of the principle (Paul uses local custom)

1 Corinthians 11:4 - 7 (NKJV) ⁴Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. ⁵But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. ⁶For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. ⁷For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.

A. Moses did not veil his face from God but from men

Exodus 34:29 - 35 (NKJV) ²⁹Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. ³⁰So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. ³²Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. ³⁴But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. ³⁵And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.

B. The veil over a woman’s face indicated her submission

ILL: So long as she was in submission she could pray or prophesy publicly – this does not mean a woman has to cover her head but that she is covered by the male leader!

. 1 Corinthians 11:5 - 7 (NKJV) ⁵But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. ⁶For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. ⁷For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.

ILL: What’s this about shaved hair?

Isaiah 3:16 - 17 (NKJV) ¹⁶Moreover the Lord says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, And walk with outstretched necks And wanton eyes, Walking and mincing as they go, Making a jingling with their feet, ¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And the Lord will uncover their secret parts.â€�

Numbers 5:16 - 22 (NKJV) ¹⁶‘And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord. ¹⁷The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸Then the priest shall stand the woman before the Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹And the priest shall put her under oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings a curse. ²⁰But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with youâ€�— ²¹then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—“the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh rot and your belly swell; ²²and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.â€� ‘Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.â€�

ILL: The woman with shaved hair was marked as a prostitute and a prostitute has no male covering!

IV. Because of the Angels.

1 Corinthians 11:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

A. Heavenly Angels

ILL: They saw the created order and are submitted to it – angels fell because they would not submit!

Job 38:3 - 13 (NKJV) ³ Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. ⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. ⁵ Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? ⁶ To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, ⁷ When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? ⁸ “Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb; ⁹ When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band; ¹⁰ When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors; ¹¹ When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!’ ¹² “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place, ¹³ That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?

Hebrews 1:13 - 14 (NKJV) ¹³But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstoolâ€�?^{£ 14}Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

B. Earthly Angels

ILLL; Rev: 2: The seven letters were written to the seven pastors. Paul did not allow a woman to have final authority in a church – get angry at me if you will but there is not one “Elderest� in the Bible – women prophesied

Acts 21:9 - 11 (NKJV) ⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. ¹⁰And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’â€�

ILL: Note the daughters “prophesied� but Agabus held the office of “Prophet!�

1 Timothy 2:8 - 15 (NKJV) ⁸I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; ⁹in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, ¹⁰but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. ¹¹Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. ¹²And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. ¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. ¹⁵Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

ILL: The problem is not woman prophesying, or praying but having authority over men.

ILL: Apollos was instructed privately – Priscilla did not dare teach him publicly!

Acts 18:24 - 26 (NKJV) ²⁴Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. ²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Conclusion:

Once more I want to stress that God’s Chain of Command has nothing to do with value, or superiority. God the Father is not superior to Christ the Lord both are God, both are the same in all attributes. Angels are not inferior to the Christian man but are servants of the Church. Men are not superior to women, women may have better intelligence, greater spirituality, and greater gifts. But God’s order of authority is:

• Father
• Son
• Holy Spirit
• Angels
• Men
• Women
• And every thing else under the above!